He reported this week that the estimated acreage for the spring onion harvest is down by 9.6 percent in the Rio Grande Valley and is off by 28.6 percent from 2007 in the Laredo-Winter Garden area. Production in Texas, therefore, could fall by nearly 33 percent from the 374.4 million pounds of onions produced last year.

Still, growers in Georgia experienced similar problems with winter freezes that growers in the Winter Garden region did, and a rains in Mexico were affecting growers there. With production costs up, Texas growers are hoping last year’s record prices will reappear, Peña said.